Engineering and technologies

UCEGO
Vacuum table filter

UCEGO
Vacuum table filter

UCEGO no. 12 A
Under assembly - general view

Filter valve
The upper part of the filter valve is
easily raised for fast inspection or
adjustment

Cloth washing
The cloths are cleaned under pressure
by two spray banks fed by one or two
central manifolds. Residual gypsum is
removed and cloths are washed and
unclogged

Support and centering rollers

Filter frame is supported and
centered by sets of rollers mounted
on nodular cast iron supports

Originally created in the early 60s, the time-tested UCEGO Filter was designed to
process phosphogypsum slurry for the industrial production of phosphoric acid.
UCEGO facts
The UCEGO Filter is owned, perfected
and marketed by the fertiliser plant engineering specialist Technip, the leading
engineering and construction organisation in Europe. Used in dihydrate and
hemihydrate filtration, the UCEGO
Filter also provides outstanding performance for a range of other products,
particularly when large active filtration
areas are required.
Today, the U C E G O Filter is used
throughout the world, representing:
More than 90 filters in 28 countries
(the great majority of them part of
new units),
Over 35 % of the worlds phosphoric
acid production.
Description of the filter
The UCEGO Filter is a vacuum filter
consisting mainly of a patented extraflat rotating table made of stainless steel
and supported by a rigid structure. An
independent endless rubber belt acts
as the outer vertical edge of the table
while the inner edge is an integral part
of the table. The slurry is fed to the rotating table by a patented slurry feedbox,
which insures perfect distribution.

UCEGO Vacuum table filter

A uniform cake is formed on the table

and the filtered phosphoric acid is
collected in the troughs under the
surface of the table.
As the filtration is completed, the cake
goes through two or three countercurrent wash sections to optimise the
recovery of P2O5.
The various filtrates are collected and
drained separately in the central valve.
The table troughs and cell pipes are designed to minimise the report time of the
liquid to the central valve. The central
valve is divided into several independent compartments to prevent the
mixing of the various filtrates.
Upon wash cycle completion the
gypsum is removed from the table with
a horizontal extraction screw and
discharged into a hopper. The hopper
provides the capability of both dry and
wet discharge, and the endless rubber
belt separates from the table edge to
allow the removal of most of the cake,
leaving only a thin layer to be removed
by the spray nozzles.
For dry discharge, the gypsum falls into
the hopper, which feeds directly onto
a conveyor belt. For wet discharge,

the gypsum is repulped inside the

hopper, which is piped to the suction
side of a gypsum pump.
A spray bank equipped with rows of
nozzles removes the residual layer of
gypsum after the extraction screw. At
this point, the table is clean and ready
for the next filtration cycle.
Retrofitting with a UCEGO Filter
The high capacity per unit of the filtration area and the compactness of the
UCEGO Filter provide optimum
production capability within a given
space. As a result, the UCEGO Filter is
an ideal candidate for replacing tiltingpan filters when additional production
is required from an existing plant.
Depending on the size of the existing
tilting-pan filter, the UCEGO Filter can
provide up to 100 % of additional filtration area on the same building platform
without major civil work. The retrofitting requires only a short shutdown and
the cost of installation is minimal.

Unique advantages of
the UCEGO Filter
High filtrate recovery
Uniform distribution of the slurry
Even distribution of the wash liquors
Efficient separation of the various filtrates
Easily movable washboxes
Efficient washing of the filter cloths
Cake extraction screw
The stainless steel screw is
adjustable in height, and equipped
with replaceable wear flights

High product quality acid

No acid dilution
Low investment cost
High capacity per unit of filtration area
Maximum filtration area requiring minimal floor
space
Low level installation, thus minimal building cost

Table drive unit

The pinion drives the table at the frame that is
equipped with long wearing pins, acting as gear teeth.
The speed of the table is adjustable to meet
production requirements

The UCEGO Filter :

section and top view

Minimum operating cost

Parts in contact with acid made of high quality,
thick stainless steel
Heavy-duty overall construction built to last
20-30 years
Few moving parts, all designed for long life
Fast and easy cloth replacement
Wet and dry discharge capability
No loss of active filtration area with dry
discharge
Separate cloth washwater recovery, no
additional water consumption
Dry discharged cake fed directly onto conveyor
from the hopper
High capacity and production rate
High speed of rotation due to the mechanical
simplicity and few moving parts
Short report time of the filtrate to the central
valve
Short filtration cycle time
A central valve with large section designed to
prevent obstructions
High vacuum due to a well-designed central
valve and its air-tight self-lubricating sealing
system
Horizontal filtration surface at all temperatures
due to a patented floating table design

Filter
No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
11 A
12
12 A
13
14

Active filtration
Area in m2*

O.D. of table
in meters

9.0
15.0
23.7
35.2
41.4
53.3
65.1
88.1
112.1
135.7
157.6
185.8
211.1
236.3
263.9
320.0

4.20
5.30
6.40
7.65
8.25
9.95
10.80
12.30
14.20
15.40
17.10
18.30
19.40
21.00
21.30
23.10

Standard
UCEGO Filter sizes
* Active filtration area is the
same for both wet or dry
discharge

UCEGO Vacuum table filter

HEADQUARTERS
Technip
89 avenue de la Grande Arme
75773 Paris Cedex 16
France
Phone: +33 (0)1 47 78 24 00

The UCEGO Filter, designed

by specialists for specialists
Owned, perfected and marketed by
Technip
Contact
Philippe MALSAN
Phosphoric Acid Technologies
Tel:
+33 (0)1 47 78 52 88
Fax:
+33 (0)1 47 78 20 25
E-mail: pmalsan@technip.com

www.technip.com

This document is the property of Technip and is not intended to be a binding contractual document.
Any information contained herein shall not result in any binding obligation on the part of Technip, or
any of its affiliates, and is provided for information purposes only.
Technip - Group Communications - June 2013 - Photo credits: Technip.